J.J. Redick has missed more than a month and counting with a bulging disc in his back. He’s a strong shooter and underrated defender – the type of role player the Clippers surely want for their playoff run. Or not? The Orange County Register (hat tip: Matt Moore of Eye on Basketball): The team will…

It’s the one day on the NBA calendar you know is going to be like a roller coaster — rumors are going to fly, deals are going to appear close then fall apart, complete fabrications will fascinate a fan base who will then blame a GM for not making them reality, and in the end…

The Clippers just ended a rough seven-game road trip with a 4-3 record, and have struggled overall since J.J. Redick went down with a pair of injuries back on Nov. 29. The initial timetable for his return was 6-8 weeks, but it appears he may be on the low end of the scale in terms…

The Clippers lost to the Hawks because of their defense on Wednesday night — the Hawks shot 51 percent as a team overall, hit 12-of-23 from three, were able to get more than a third of their shots inside 8 feet and shot 64.3 percent on them. The Clippers starting five had a horrible defensive…

The Eastern Conference has two elite teams — Indiana and Miami — and they are on top of the PBT Power Rankings for this week. Then you don’t see another team from the East until No. 12, which speaks to the depth of the West and the drop off after the East elite. 1.…

Let’s jump around the Western Conference with a few observations: Portland: 20 percent of the regular season is in the books, and the Trail Blazers hold the pole position in the Western Conference. It’s a great accomplishment and something absolutely no one expected, but the Blazers should come back down to earth soon enough. Wesley…

J.J. Redick has been a key part of the Clippers having the third best offense in the NBA this season — he gives them an efficient 15.8 points a game in kind of a “Ray Allen in Boston” role coming off screens and spotting up at the arc as a kick-out option. But the Clippers…

For those of you who haven’t noticed, the Phoenix Suns are 3-1 and Eric Bledsoe is the main reason. With Goran Dragic out a couple of games with a sprained ankle Bledsoe has stepped up, he had 25 points Monday night against New Orleans and was making plays at both ends. Check out the video…

Let’s zip around the league with ten observations for ten teams: Atlanta: I’m digging the former Jazz men. Paul Millsap is already getting along famously with Al Horford, but the smart movement off the ball by flex-bred wingmen Kyle Korver and DeMarre Carroll is keeping defenses off guard. This is a really unselfish offense already,…

All you need to know about how Phoenix felt about Kendall Marshall is that last summer they traded for Eric Bledsoe and kept Goran Dragic. Of, if that wasn’t enough, they threw him in to match salaries in the Marcin Gortat trade, then the Wizards promptly waived him. Because he’s got playmaking skills, he becomes…

When the pulled muscles, sprained ankles and other assorted injuries that are just part of the NBA grind hit this season, few teams will be as deep and prepared as the Clippers. They are as deep a team as there is in the league (at least in the backcourt, up front… not so much). For…

Here is our regular look around the NBA — links to stories worth reading and notes to check out (stuff that did not get its own post here at PBT) — done in bullet point form. Because bloggers love bullet points like basketball junkies love Summer League…. • Paul Pierce seems to be enjoying himself…

When Chauncey Billups went down with an Achilles Tendon injury couple seasons ago, it seemed like the end of his career. He wouldn’t let it be — he was going to leave the NBA on his own terms. He put in the grueling rehab work and got back on the court for the Clippers last…

Last trade deadline it was Vinny Del Negro who was trying to push a trade for Kevin Garnett, bringing the veteran to Los Angeles to stabilize the Clippers defense. But Clippers management wanted no part of the deal — they didn’t want to move DeAndre Jordan — and that was part of the tension in…

It’s Dwight Howard silly rumor season. Everyone knows the Lakers are still the front-runners in this race but the latest reports have the Rockets and Mavericks at least in a good stalking position to make a move once this race moves into the home stretch. Other teams may try to get into the mix as…

It was more of exactly what we’ve seen over the last three games of this series between the Grizzlies and the Clippers in Game 6, and that meant the end of the season for Los Angeles. The particulars changed slightly, but the level of confidence from Memphis and disarray from the Clippers remained constant. The…

It was a well-designed play well executed. That is to say, it was vintage Spurs. Down 1 with :07 seconds left to the Clippers, the Spurs needed a last second shot and (with Manu Ginobili out) logic suggests they would turn to Tony Parker (who can create his own look). But while Parker tries to…

Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe is one great big problem. He’s a problem for opponents who have to bring the ball up against him. He’s a problem for big men that think they’ll safely collect rebounds. He’s a problem for the backpedaling guard in transition that has to stay in front of him. He’s…